{EXCERPT REVEAL} Heat Wave by Karina Halle

{SYNOPSIS}
They say when life closes one door, another one opens.
This door happens to lead to paradise.
And a man I can never, ever have.

~~~

Still grieving the loss of her sister who died two years ago, the last thing Veronica “Ronnie” Locke needed was to lose her job at one of Chicago’s finest restaurants and have to move back in with her parents. So when a window of opportunity opens for her – running a kitchen at a small Hawaiian hotel – she’d be crazy not to take it.

The only problem is, the man running the hotel drives her crazy:
Logan Shephard.
It doesn’t matter that he’s got dark brown eyes, a tall, muscular build that’s sculpted from daily surfing sessions, and a deep Australian accent that makes your toes curl.
What does matter is that he’s a grump.
Kind of an asshole, too.
And gets under Ronnie’s skin like no one else.

But the more time Ronnie spends on the island of Kauai, falling in love with the lush land and its carefree lifestyle, the closer she gets to Logan. And the closer she gets to Logan, the more she realizes she may have pegged him all wrong. Maybe it’s the hot, steamy jungles or the invigorating ocean air, but soon their relationship becomes utterly intoxicating.

There’s just one major catch.

The two of them together would incite a scandal neither Ronnie, nor her family, would ever recover from.

Forbidden, Illicit, off-limits – sometimes the heat is worth surrendering to, even if you get burned.

*Note: this is a standalone novel, unrelated to any previous books. It does NOT contain cheating of any kind.

{EXCERPT REVEAL}

He looks at me and sighs. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

“You did kiss me back, though.”

It was impossible not to.

“Momentary lapse of judgement,” I tell him. “I blame Dan’s punch.”

“I’m your boss. It was reckless of me. I took advantage of you.”

“Whoa, hey now,” I tell him. “You didn’t take advantage of me. I wasn’t that drunk. I knew exactly what I was doing.”

“And yet you still did it,” he says, his tone softer, his eyes searching mine, shining in the streetlights.

“As I said…it was a momentary lapse of judgement.” I avert my eyes, feeling that pull to him, like the waves to the moon. I can’t put myself in that situation again.

I can see him cock his head out of the corner of my eye, studying me. “Do you regret it?”

I swallow. “Do you?”

“I just said it was a mistake.”

I nod. “Yeah. Yeah and you’re right. It was.”

“People make mistakes all the time,” he goes on, his words taking on a silken quality. I can’t help but close my eyes as he comes forward. His fingers trail along my jaw, disappearing behind my ear and into my hair.

Oh, god, not again. This is a test. Stay strong.

I keep my eyes closed.

“Some people never learn from them,” he adds softly.

I suck in my breath as my nerves dance from head to toe. “Why are you doing this?” I whisper.

He exhales slowly, his hand leaving my hair and drifting down my shoulder, my arm, leaving a wake of heightened skin. I surpress the urge to shiver.

“Touching you?” he asks.

“Yes.” My voice shakes.

“Because I want to.”

“And you think you just can?”

“Because I know you want me to.”

“You just said it was a mistake.”

“Maybe I’m testing you.” His hand comes off of me. “To see if you’d make the same mistake again.”